Today I had the pleasure of being wrong. For the past two weeks, a gentleman has deemed it appropriate to bike past me and yell Eat more food. Well, not only is that inappropriate, but it is hurtful and embarrassing. I had discussed this with a friend as we decided that I needed to find said gentleman and set him straight. About a week ago I did find him. And conveniently, he happens to live in my apartment building. I decided that the next time I saw him I would say something. I formulated an articulate, honest, and slightly insulting response to his assault. Today was the day. I was walking home from the store and stopped him. Excuse me. My name is Kate and for the past two weeks you have biked passed me and yelled. If you had any idea what the past 5 months have been like for me you would never have done this. I nearly died of severe anorexia, I weighed 71 pounds. I paused to prepare myself for the second part of my speech, the part where I would get to hurt him back. What happened next is what shocked me. He looked at me and said: Im sorry. I never should have done that. I didnt mean to hurt you. I wanted you to know Ive got your back. Ok.......so not only are you apologizing, but now you are explaining to me that you were trying to help? We all make assumptions at some or several points in time over our life and what I got the privilege of witnessing today was that most people step forward with the best intentions, try to help one and other in whatever ways they can. Some people dont understand but they are still reaching out to perhaps make a difference. His response to me, not only amended the situation but changed my perspective on him. So now not only do I have a new neighbor, but also a new friend. (ok, so maybe not a new friend......he is like 10 years my junior and is friends with my sleaze bag neighbor Lloyd. And yes, it may sound like I am making an assumption again by calling Lloyd a name, but in this case, it is simply a statement of fact. Lloyd is a schmuck, perhaps in his youth he was delightful, but now he parks his Lexus in two parking spaces so nobody can park beside him, and whistles at me every time I walk up the stairs. He also has like two teeth and shines his car for hours everyday with no shirt on.)
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 03:27:54 +0000
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